


All Hail Zeon!

by Thunderscourge



Category: Gundam, Gundam & Related Fandoms, Gundam 00, Gundam Unicorn, Universal Century Gundam, Zeta Gundam
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death Fix, F/M, Giant Robots, Politics, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-11 01:12:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5608141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderscourge/pseuds/Thunderscourge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zeon has been vilified by many for its actions, but in war things are not as black and white as anyone would want them to be. Some Zeon soldiers are fighting for their rights against the tyrannical Federation, but the deck is stacked against them in achieving their noble goals. Can they change the path of the war, or fall victim to it? Can Garma and Dozle overcome Gihren's tyranny with the help of those loyal to them?</p><p>Gundam UC, with homages to other Gundam series included.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Overture to a War

                                                                                                                                     

It is beginning of the year 79 of the Universal Century. With celebrations of the New Year ending, Zeon is beginning to mobilize the war machines it has rapidly developed and amassed in recent months. It is time for Zeon to declare its true independence.

Controlling largely only the Side 3 space colony, Zeon has a great disadvantage to overcome against its vastly superior foe's sheer resources numbering on thirty times those of Zeon's. The Earth Federation had a military drawing its strength from all Sides except Side 3, not to mention those from the Earth itself. Some might think the challenge posed an impossible one, but Zeon has placed faith in its weapons of war, which are believed to be vastly superior to their Federation counterparts.

With such an ephemeral and early edge, even the lowliest of pilots in Zeon has the power to shift the tide of the war in some noticeable fashion. Two could have an even greater impact, though just how will come down to their actions: whether in-unison or in-opposition.

While some would go down in history, others could still very well change the course of that history.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

"Lieutenant Hiyento, you ready for the meeting with the Vice Admiral?"

Warm, friendly, and maybe a little bit smug. The third class Lieutenant Emmerich was known for his good charm and affability.

"Of course."

Something not shared by the partner he had been assigned, another low ranking Lieutenant named Amir Hiyento. Whereas Emmerich could get along with almost anyone, Amir's icy eyes and attitude kept nearly any living soul away whenever they had the choice to do so. He was a stoic military man despite never having been to war, and if not for his long flowing teal hair he would be a picturesque soldier.

They had come together when Zeon was testing its new weapons, each of them piloting a Zaku-I in all of its glory at the time to give the researchers the data they needed to complete the project. While a small role overall, it gave each of them the attention of one of Zeon's leading officers, that being Vice Admiral Dozle Zabi himself.

Dozle was the son of the nation's Sovereign, Degwin Zabi, but by no means did he fail to live up to the rank granted to him by nepotism. A hulking man of over seven feet, Dozle had a deep care for his soldiers, and so Emmerich and even the cold Amir were honored to be placed under his command for the coming blitzkrieg assault on the unwary Federation.

Given their previous, albeit minor, experience with the man, the two were called to meet with him in-person before their operation. They had not yet received their specific details, or even what units they would belong to, but thanks to their previous connections with the mobile suit technicians and developers they had at least managed to have their personal Zakus painted in a custom manner.

Without more to truly say, the two left their quarters on their military facility to meet with their commanding officer. Emmerich had known Amir long enough to give him his space and respect his taciturn demeanor, but he hoped on some levels to crack the shell eventually.

The meeting room, Dozle's personal office on Side 3, was inside one of the space docks where Zeon's weapons of war were being prepared. Musai Cruisers, Zaku-1's, Zaku-II's, and soldiers all were preparing for the coming fight against the tyrannical Federation that would deprive them of rights, would treat them as if they were inferior solely for having been born in space rather than on their precious Earth.

When the two pilots arrived at the dock's office they were allowed inside without hesitation by the guard standing by at its door, a man known as Shin Matsunaga who was both a close friend and the guard of Dozle.

Inside the spacious room was the Vice Admiral himself, who even seated was about the height of his visitors. Dozle rose from his seat to salute the men as they entered, a gesture they returned without missing a beat,

"Welcome gentlemen. It is good to see you both again."

He holds a hand out to signal the two to take a seat across from him. On the structure are an array of picture frames that the pilots could not see from their initial view, although with enough effort Emmerich manages to sneak a glance.

There were three picture frames visible to the man. The first was of Dozle and the entire Zabi family, including Dozle's deceased brother Sasro in a family portrait. This, in addition to the lack of the prominent facial scars Dozle now held, showed just how long ago this photo was taken, further compounded by how Emmerich doubted Dozle would willingly take a picture with his sister Kycilia at this point of time.

Center of the frame is Degwin, the man who took Zeon from the mere satellite colony to the burgeoning nation it was now, and to his side was his favorite son, Garma Zabi. The youngest of the family, Garma was a man born with a woman's beauty, and despite his young age of about twenty he was well beloved by their entire country. Standing aside Garma was his sister Kycilia, whose face appeared nowhere as cold and menacing as it was known to be now.

Lastly, Gihren stood proudly in the photo, as if he was in on some joke no-one else was. Neither Emmerich nor Amir were fans of the eldest Zabi child, but given how charismatic he proved to be with many troops it was not an opinion one could easily voice. The rumors surrounding his handling of the Deikun affair was enough to put off any rational being, his propaganda of leading Zeon into a new age notwithstanding.

The other two photos were far less crowded, possessing a charming simplicity to them as far as Emmerich was concerned: the second photo is of a younger Dozle is an Ensign's uniform saluting to a camera, likely from his time at the military academy, though what made the photo endearing was the maybe ten year old child mimicking him completely at his side, Garma's purple hair only coming up to Dozle's stomach. The brothers obviously had a strong bond unlike the rest of the siblings, and while Emmerich did not personally know the youngest Zabi he found himself tempted to meet him one day.

The last photo was of Dozle in his full military uniform standing with a woman in his arms bridal style, fitting given that the orange haired woman she was wearing a wedding dress. Emmerich inferred that this was Dozle wife Zenna, who Dozle was rumored to talk with his soldiers about at length given his undying love for her. Should that rumor be true, Emmerich was prepared to warn Dozle that it is always the one who talks about their family who will die in a book or television show, but for now he was content with knowing that he was serving under a Human being and not a heartless fiend.

Interestingly, after Emmerich's cursory observation of the photos he caught Amir doing the very same action. The very fact that Amir would be interested in looking over such things surprised his partner, but now was not the time to confront such an issue.

Not as perceptive as the quick eyed Emmerich, Dozle remained standing as he slid the files lain out for the soldiers on his desk towards their recipients.

"January 3rd, one day from now, will mark the beginning of the Zeon-Federation war. We will be moving in to strike Sides 1, 2 and 4 simultaneously and rapidly. The Federation outnumbers our forces severely, but we have the advantage of Mobile Suits."

A notable advantage, if Emmerich and Amir's experience with them meant anything. The Federation likely had no idea what was about to hit them: what use were guns meant to hit cruisers against such 'small' targets? Emmerich was not about to be sloppy though: he had traded up for a Zaku-II and its extra armor would make it feel slower than his Zaku-I he imagined, so he would have to be careful not to be too lax in dodging enemy bombardments.

"A Musai cruiser will bring you to their defensive line where you will wait until the order to strike is given. When it comes, attack their forces and eliminate all Federation ships in the area. They will be using the outdated Saberfish fighters as well as their inadequate Salamis cruisers to defend them. The Saberfish have little firepower, but protect your back. There is a chance they can damage your reactors despite the weakness of their weapons. The Salamis cruiser will have difficulty tracking your Zaku units if you remain mobile, so you can safely ignore it until the fighters protecting it have been dealt with."

Amir looks the scarred and burly Vice Admiral in the eye without flinching, a question having entered his mind, "Will we have a time-frame, sir?"

"Yes, but it is a generous one. You need to disable them before they can be reinforced, but you also need to keep their attention on you and lure them into running after you when your initial attack is complete. By attacking their main force you will be diverting their attention from the efforts on Side 2, known as Operation British, where Gihren intends to drop an unpopulated Colony cylinder on the Earth Federation's main base, Jaburo. Should it go as planned, the Federation will not only lose their military stronghold but also much of their standing army in space."

The battle plan did not stir any particular emotions in the two pilots, but that they would be destroying a Space Colony to use it as a devastating weapon on their enemy? One could see the practical side of dropping such a large object from orbit on the enemy's primary base, crush them in one swift blow, and keep the conflict from dragging out and causing the entire Earth and every Side from being destroyed in all out warfare…but the barbarity of it still could belong to few but the ruthless Gihren himself.

Dozle's face betrayed some of his own uncertainty about the operation, but he appeared capable of reigning in his regrets, "Given the estimated casualties, we do not expect this entire conflict to last longer than one month. The weak Earth Federation will be unable to stomach the losses they suffer, and we will press our advantage."

As each of the soldiers flipped through their documents they noticed a page that was dedicated to a man with platinum hair and a bony face that made his serious expression even more prominent.

"You two will be joined by Lieutenant Schmitzer who will serve as team leader of your operation. You may speak with him about any further details afterwards. He is an experienced pilot like you and has been serving our armed forces for a decade. I expect great things from the three of you," Dozle stated proudly, seemingly looking forward to this coming conflict.

Dozle brought a hand up to salute each of the men again, which they returned as they stood up in preparation for their departure.

"You are dismissed for now. Report to Lieutenant Schmitzer at your assigned Musai and prepare for your operation. These beginning moments will determine the course of the war, so do your best for Zeon!"

_______________________________________________________________________________________

The hangar was a sight to behold for the two soldiers when they entered it again to head to their post. Large warships and mobile suits alike sat in waiting, the machines of war even including a great deal of the new Zaku-II mobile suits that you have heard much of with their improved performance. Zeon was sparing no expense to crush the Federation in one fell swoop: it was the only way they could triumph, and failure would have dire consequences.

Their files specify that their Musai, the Jotun, was the vessel at the rear of the hangar. From across the large hangar Emmerich and Amir could see technicians busying themselves loading it with supplies while an officer overlooks the procedures.

The officer appeared strict in his features, but they softened as he noticed Emmerich and Amir both approaching. He waved them over to him and saluted them when they reached him. Each could recognize him as the man in their file, but they let him introduce himself nonetheless.

"Hello, I am Lieutenant Garrett Schmitzer. You must be those two test pilots Vice-Admiral Dozle assigned to me. Care to introduce yourselves?"

Emmerich took the lead, "I am Lieutenant Third Class Emmerich, sir, reporting for duty. I look forward to helping however possible in the coming engagement."

Schmitzer smiled at the soldier who was as green as his uniform, though he received a more minimal response from the second soldier who simply stated his name and rank. Opposite personalities, but both were fresh meat as far as he was concerned.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Now, I know Command is selling this mission as a cakewalk, but remember we're going to be outnumbered. Stick together and don't let them get in behind you, and be sure not to expose your back to the Salamis cruiser at any point. I don't want to be sending condolence letters home, especially in a war that'll be so short."

Emmerich tried sharing a glance with Amir, but his partner continued to look forward at their superior officer.

Sensing that they had little more to say, Schmitzer pointed a thumb back to the Musai's boarding ramp.

"Well, if that's all, get on board and get some rest. The crew quarters have rations and bunks for you both. I'll be there shortly after I finish overseeing the supplying of the ship. Now's also the time to get some team bonding in if you two haven't already spoken much. Trust is important in battle."

This said, he let the two men past him and they boarded their ship. In addition to the Zaku piloted by their squad leader the green cruiser would hold both Emmerich's tan Zaku-II with its aquamarine highlights, a gaudy attempt at fashion, as well as Amir's royal purple Zaku-I with its mauve highlights. With such a force, their chance of individual victory was quite high, but strategies and tactics rarely survived past initial contact so whether the odds would remain in their favor was yet to be seen.

Inside the ship the pilots are met with the sight of technicians seeing to every possible issue and matter before the ship sets sail for its coming operation, and the vessel's simple design allows for it to run with a minimal crew, an essential trait for a fighting force as small as Zeon's.

It did not take long for the two to settle in on the vessel that very well may become their home for the next week or so if things went as planned…or longer, if things went off the rails.

The Musai had lifted off by the time the two were settled in with their minimal belongings in their cramped quarters of a shared room. They needed to be in place when the operation was launched, so there was little time to spare in terms of movement.

For those on board, however, this would likely be the last moment of calm before the storm of the war, so Emmerich decided he best use it the way Schmitzer had wanted him to: getting to know his antisocial comrade a bit better.

"So, this is our big moment…" he paused as he looked over to Amir, who was not showing any sign of response, "You feeling up to making history today?"

Amir continued to look over details related to the mission instead of look at his companion, "The Federation will see soon enough how much I intend to do just that."

Sensing that perhaps his companion was the sort to plan someone's ultimate downfall for so much as irritating him, Emmerich decided to let things sit there for the time being. Gradual progress it would be then.

Silence fell between the two as they waited, and after some brief rest their uncomfortable muteness was interrupted by a soft series of knocks at their door. Since Amir was closer to the door he got up to open it, though he paused when it was only a crack open so he could stare out at the person there: a woman in a Lieutenant's uniform who had crimson red hair and a soft face that complemented her small frame. She seemed a little surprised by the odd greeting, especially given the pilot's piercing eyes, but she recovered quickly and spoke up.

"Excuse me, but Lieutenant Schmitzer has requested you on the bridge. If you could follow me…"

She seemed even newer than the two pilots, probably fresh from the academy. While Amir had experience in the military in the six years since he graduated at 19, he was not a combat hardened veteran, but he had at least some immunity built in during those years. Someone as fresh and timid as this might have a tougher time out there, but he was not going to comment on it since it was not his place.

Given that they were being summoned, the two prepared themselves for the meeting and followed after the one sent to retrieve them.

The red haired woman led them to the Jotun's bridge where Schmitzer was waiting beside the captain of the ship, a man with a gaunt face and blue hair who seems familiar and you feel you should know. As the soldiers arrived Schmitzer left the captain's side and moved to speak to them by where they entered.

He nodded first to the woman and then dismissed her before speaking to the pilot duo, "Thank you Lieutenant Hepner. At ease, soldiers. I have confirmed the details of our attack with Captain M'Quve."

Bringing a hand over to a display of the approaching battlefield, Schmitzer began to give the operation's current details.

"Now, there will be four squads of four Saberfish fighters each protecting one Salamis class cruiser. Here are the technical specifications of each of these craft for you to study."

He gave his pilots a folder each and then turned back to his display, his hand moving towards a specific point on the pictured Federation ships.

"Given that this is a surprise attack, I say that we hit the bridge of the Salamis cruiser to start. By crippling its bridge we can prevent it from being of any further threat in the battle, leaving only the Saberfish as real threats," he looked between his soldiers, "One of us should use a 280mm Bazooka to get the job done while the other two bring 120mm Machine Guns to gun down the Saberfish."

The bazooka was more effective at range and would be quite capable of handling the large cruisers, but would falter against the faster moving Saberfish without great deal of luck. The 120mm machine gun however would be more suited for taking down the Saberfish, while also having a decent albeit lower effect on the cruisers. Given that they did not have time to chip away at the cruisers, it would be important to cripple it swiftly, thus necessitating the bazooka even if it would be nigh useless otherwise against small fighter craft.

Schmitzer continued his briefing, "Now, we only have one chance to take them by surprise. We all will be able to coordinate our fire before they can react, but we need to make sure to take out that bridge right away. Do you have any preference on who should use the bazooka for that first shot?"

This time when Emmerich turned to exchange a glance, Amir returned it. Amir had demonstrated better capability in close ranged mobile suit combat and, while not bad at it, was inferior to Emmerich at ranged combat. If they were to make the first shot count, Emmerich would be the better choice.

Their decision silently made between them, Emmerich turned back to Schmitzer, "I will, sir."

"Very well then. I will have the Zakus fitted accordingly. Our Musai will provide fire support in the mission, and it is vital that we do not let it be harmed. It would be unfortunate to defeat the Federation forces but be left adrift," Schmitzer gave a grin, but it was one of dark humor.

Being left to drift in space was quite possibly the nightmare of the majority of space pilots: left in the cold with diminishing fuel, air, and the possibility of death at any given moment in this instance given that it would also be a warzone.

"Visibility should be fine given that our region has minimal Minovski Particles interfering with our systems. We will, however, adapt our combat strategy once the fight breaks out, but we should try to focus down the Saberfish squads one at a time. Each squad will likely coordinate its attacks, so eliminating them entirely will cripple their chances of getting any of us."

Done with his explanation of the situation, Schmitzer smiled to the two younger soldiers.

"First round is on me for whichever of you takes down the most ships today."

That brought a smile even to the taciturn Hiyento's face.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

It was not long before the two pilots found themselves in their mobile suits, all gathered around the Jotun as they waited for their orders to rush forth and assault the unaware Federation forces located in the sector.

Emmerich could feel his arms tense up as he prepared for the moment he would become a true soldier of Zeon: prepared for when he took a life in for the glory of his people and for their freedom.

Fortunately for him, the voice of his commanding officer came over their radio to calm him, "Take it easy, men. The Federation seem to be exactly as Lady Kycilia's agents said they would be. Follow the predetermined plan and excise caution. They don't know what we're up to yet, but we don't want to blow the entirety of this operation."

Nerves did not have time to settle back into Emmerich, as right after the event that would come to be known as the "Three Second Warning" came to be: Zeon declared war and, in mere moments, launched a vicious assault on the Federation armada and their space colonies who dared to abide by the Federation's mistreatment.

"The declaration of war has been sent! Commence the operation!"

The freedom of Zeon was at hand. The Federation would be driven back, expelled from space, that day.

A new beginning awaited the Spacenoids fighting for freedom…

And for millions others, their curtains were to be called.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below! This story is from a long-running Gundam Roleplaying game I ran with friends of mine, so it is thanks to them that this story is possible. Thanks to my many notes and some of our play by post sessions, I can bring to life the game we shared that has honestly been one of the best experiences of my life and by far the best RPG I have ever had.
> 
> Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below, and please follow/favorite the story if you enjoyed!


	2. The Might of Zeon

For decades the Earth Federation, led by a political elite whose greed knew little bounds, had subjugated those who lived in their space colonies up above. Diminished rights and representation, economic stresses, and a new form of racism was born: hatred of Spacenoids as they would come to be called.

A politician rose from this desperate plight on the third colony, Side 3, by the name of Zeon Deikun. With his charisma and vision he rallied the people of his colony towards a better future, one where they would evolve beyond their current status, as well as beyond humanity itself.

A driven man, Zeon Deikun passed not long after his rise to power due to overexertion. Rumors surrounded this, but no evidence could be found that anything but the man's own ambition and spirit had led to his collapse. Naming his right hand man, Degwin Zabi, as the next leader, Side 3 came to be named after its former leader as the Zabi family became its autocratic leaders.

While a dictator, Degwin continued to support his people and their rights as opposed to what the Earth Federation would allow them to have. They wished for autonomy, for so long as they were forced to serve and support the withering Earth they were little better than shackled slaves. For his ardent support, and with the aid of his eldest son Gihren the Zabi family created a cult of personality centered around not only their own greatness, but that of the Spacenoids, for together they would achieve the ideals of Zeon Deikun. Achieve a "Newtype" of humanity.

With rallying speeches, decades of festered frustration, and a sense of patriotism possibly not rivaled throughout Human history, it was obvious that a revolution would happen to all but the corrupt and dilapidated Earth leaders.

And with the declaration of war, fueled by the zeitgeist of the time, there was only one way forward: complete and total victory, casting aside the shackles Zeon was born into and crush the government that dared hold them down.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Lieutenant Emmerich, you may fire when ready."

Emmerich felt himself breathing heavily as he throttled his Zaku-II forward and quickly brought the new weapon of war into range of the enemy still in a state of lax security. The engagement zone they were about to engage in by the colony was an enclosed rectangle caused by space debris and asteroids, but within it there was little refuse that would get in the way of the battle.

The voice had belonged to the Captain of the Musai, a man he only truly knew by reputation: M'Quve, the right hand soldier of Lady Kycilia Zabi. Few were as ruthless as Kycilia, but M'Quve was known to be quite nearly as cutthroat.

Emmerich used his suit's thruster to stop its momentum just at the edge of his range so that he could aim without fear of being easily shot down by the Federation Cruiser's weapons: four Cruisers were nearby, with sixteen visible Saberfish. To attract their attention all at once could lead to Emmerich's suit being overwhelmed, so caution was still called for even as he prepared in the last moments before the blitz.

Taking in a breathe, Emmerich moved his suit so that his bazooka was aimed at the nearest cruiser. The Zaku-II handled very similar to its Zaku-I predecessor, albeit the smallest bit slower due to its extra armor. Still, the humanoid mobile suit was a force to be reckoned with and he intended to make that known.

The bazooka fired as he finished calming his nerves, and just as the enemy seemed to realize they were under attack the front bow of the Salamis Cruiser disappeared in a bright light. While the rest of the Cruiser remained functional, the strike took out multiple weapon systems and undoubtedly sent the crew inside into shock and terror over what just suddenly happened.

The Zaku, with its one eye and supreme power at the start of the war, would become the face of Zeon for good reason.

"And with that shot our war truly begins. Attack before they can respond!" Lieutenant Schmitzer cried out, his own light blue Zaku-II moving towards the battlefield as Amir followed beside him.

"I'll cover your backs and the Musai, you go on ahead," Schmitzer announced, which was met with affirmative confirmations from his two pilots. The cruisers at the far edge of the area were trying to react and throw out as much fire as they could, but their weapons had been made for the technology of years and wars past: they were hopelessly outdated and not meant at all for Mobile Suit combat.

Emmerich finished preparing his weapon for another shot when the first group of Saberfish, in a squadron of four, came at him. He fired into their formation with the hopes of taking multiple out at once, but by utilizing the three dimensional aspect of space they managed to avoid the brunt of the damage; however, two only escaped it with damage to their fuselage and rear thrusters.

Saberfish were like jet fighters in space, and as such they were equipped to face other fighters like them. This meant that as a Zaku-I charged at their location from where they avoided Emmerich's strike that they were caught off guard by the machine's ruthless speed and were unable to judge accurately how its hand-held rifle would fire.

The two damaged Saberfish were cut down in a flurry of gunfire by Hiyento as he moved straight towards them and then past their formation. Emmerich glanced over to see that Amir was heading to the damaged cruiser.

"I'll finish this one."

Emmerich appreciated the initiative, but he also was far less equipped to deal with the Saberfish than Amir was.

An arc of gunfire finished the two straggler craft as Emmerich finished preparing his next salvo, and while he could not see where it came from he knew that Schmitzer had his back as he said he would. Feeling comfortable, the green pilot looked to find his partner and whatever he was getting into.

The Federation Cruisers had locked onto the Musai as it was something they could actually hit with more than a glancing shot or two, though this left them open for Amir to close in on the damaged cruiser. The next squadron of Saberfish tried to halt him, but their guns had little noticeable effect on the Zaku-I, and many missed due to a combination of prodigious reflexes on Amir's part and the fact that his suit's dark coloration made it more difficult to pick out in the darkness of space.

To dissuade them from firing at him, Amir approached the cruiser directly and drew his suit's Heat Hawk. The Heat Hawk was, as one would expect, a superheated weapon in the shape of an axe that would recharge itself on the back of a Zaku so that it was more than just a blunt weapon when swung.

Using his suit's momentum and the blistering heat of the axe, Amir carved into the craft as he made his pass by it. Its metal tore open and small chain reactions tore the damaged areas apart even beyond the direct damage done.

Not about to be one-upped, especially not when he could make a name for himself so easily at the start of this war, Emmerich took aim at the second Salamis Cruiser and opened fire.

"For Zeon!"

This missile was far better aimed than his initial one as his nerves began to unwind and his training kicked in: not only did it strike the bridge of the craft, it did so in a manner that also took with it the engines of the craft. The resulting chain reaction tore the ship apart and the crew of hundreds vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

Amazed at what he had accomplished, as well as slightly horrified with how easily he just took so many lives, Emmerich paused to watch the spectacle.

"Good shooting, but don't forget about the others behind you," Schmitzer warned, and none too soon. Emmerich twisted his suit around to catch some Saberfish fire with his suit's front rather than back. A solid hit on a Zaku's reactor could lead to sudden death, so he appreciated the heads up that possibly saved his life.

As Emmerich took another scattering shot at a squadron of Saberfish while being covered by his leader, Amir had moved his Zaku to be right in front of the enemy's bridge and was carving it to pieces with strike after strike. After enough swipes the enemy's command structure was torn open, soldiers been torn into the vacuum of space as Amir turned around and used the remains of it as a kickoff point. His engine charred the remains of the compromised bridge and his Zaku launched at the third group of Saberfish, the ones who previously had to ignore him due to his proximity to their own ship.

Thanks to a coordinated effort between himself and Emmerich, Schmitzer managed to down three more Saberfish while their Musai under M'Quve had crippled one more of the enemy cruisers, "That's half of them. Stay focused and careful!"

Emmerich took a shot at the same group Amir was approaching, though unlike his previous attempts this bazooka blast hit one of the Saberfish on the wing and caused it to spiral out of control into yet another, taking both of them out while the shrapnel of his blast tore off the engine of yet another Saberfish.

The last of the Squadron was not about to give up, however, and primed its missiles to fire right at the stationary Zaku.

"Zeon cretins!" the Federation pilot called out over the communication lines, his fingers on the trigger—

Emmerich found himself laughing as he saw what was about to happen the moment before it did…not to him, but rather to the Saberfish.

—only for a Heat Hawk to catch the Saberfish right along the fuselage and tear straight through it from front to back. The two halves of the ship split apart and each suffered a chain reaction as the missile payload they had held detonated on them rather than their intended Zaku enemy.

"Woah, good one Hiyento," Emmerich commented, though he was a bit surprised with how brutally efficient his ally was, "Remind me to stay on your good side!"

"Keep shooting," was the only response he got as Amir put the Heat Hawk back on its recharge-rack and prepared to fire with his rifle again.

Emmerich shook his head, realizing that he was really getting distracted this fight…though, unlike the veteran Schmitzer and the icy Amir, he did have reason to perhaps falter in his resolve now and again, "Right, right."

The last five Saberfish left and their sole supporting Salamis Cruiser turned their attention on the Musai and the Zaku guarding it. Throughout the fight the Musai had been focusing on dealing as much damage with its lasers as it could to the Federation craft while also not taking too much itself, and it was beginning to show its wear and tear from being outnumbered four to one in terms of ships.

Schmitzer's Zaku was also beginning to show some damage, for even though the enemy Saberfish could barely put a dent in the armor of a Zaku, with enough gunfire they were managing to simply wear it down at points. He was serving as a distraction for his men in that regard, drawing the attention of as many of the enemy Saberfish as possible so that they would not just swarm and target the backsides of his men.

Unfortunately for the five remaining Saberfish, Schmitzer was a Zaku ace who had more experience in that seat than the vast majority of Zeon's pilots. 120mm rifle in hand, he methodically took down each of the remaining craft as they did their best to avoid the gunfire of Amir and Emmerich, and within a thirty second span the five craft were destroyed.

"You alright, Lieutenant?" Emmerich called out as he noticed the dents and holes in his superior's suit. He had only just met Schmitzer but he respected the man for his ability both in combat and to stay calm and focused on the task at hand.

Schmitzer's voice was warm over the radio, "I can manage. The frame is damaged, but the cockpit hasn't been impacted."

Emmerich could swear he could hear Amir sigh in relief, but he could have simply been hearing things, especially since right at that moment an explosion caused disturbance over the radio: the Musai had finished off the final remaining enemy craft.

The last of their enemies in the area incapacitated, a collective breath of relief was uttered by the pilots, "Captain M'Quve, how's the Musai holding up?"

The Captain's effeminate voice responded with a bit of smugness in it, "It has been impaired, but given the circumstances it is in adequate shape."

Schmitzer did a cursory look over his forces and came to a conclusion easily: they could press on and assist in one of the many other battlezones where explosions could still be seen in the distance, or they could pull back and not risk their lives when they were in a vulnerable state. They had more than done their part for the war's overture.

"Well, I don't think there is much more we can contribute to this battle given our fuel, ammunition, and damage. Lets pull back."

Emmerich let out a breathe of relief as he set his Zaku on a course back to the Musai. He had been worried that they would push themselves to their limits, so the decision to pull back was one he appreciated with his life, "Aye, aye, sir."

Still, as his Zaku joined the other two in the Musai's loading bay he realized something: he had taken out a cruiser and three Saberfish. Five "kills" and you were an ace, and he doubted other pilots would credit a cruiser kill for more given that it was just a bigger ship and was still hopelessly outmatched by the Zakus.

"Five kills and I'd have been an ace…so close!" he complained as he climbed out of his cockpit. His cursing of his luck did not go unheard, as Amir nodded: he had similarly taken out a cruiser and three Saberfish, so he too was on the cusp of being a renowned pilot after a single engagement.

"If only cruisers counted for more."

Emmerich thought back to the battle's spectacular explosion resulting from one of his very own shots…that was something he was sure would stay with him for awhile, if not forever. Amir had done well as well, having accomplished the same feat of destroying an enemy cruiser in a more hack and slash manner, "Hehe, yeah, we did carve those up pretty well, didn't we?"

Hiyento merely nodded as he moved in the gravity-less environment towards the place the cramped vessel held its sleeping quarters. Before he got too far the two were approached by their squad leader Schmitzer, who gave a salute to the two as he floated by them.

"I'll take care of the reports, but if there is anything you two would like me to add in, let me know. You did well today for your first real combat mission. Get some rest."

They didn't need to be told twice, and before long the group was on their way back to Side 3 to be resupplied and to wait for redeployment. The damage to the Musai and Schmitzer's mobile suit were enough to have the whole group recalled, giving the pilots some rest as other groups took to the offensive as conflict still raged on at Sides 1, 2, and 4.

By the time Emmerich and Hiyento had returned to Side 3 and slept the smallest amount, Ensign Hepner, the red haired woman from before, had left the mission reports Lieutenant Schmitzer filed earlier for the pilots to examine and look over.

Little stood out in the files, however each of the two noticed that in the report Schmitzer had ascribed one of his own ten Saberfish kills to each of them instead, meaning that both of them were technically aces. Perhaps he had overheard them as well and was feeling generous given their efforts? The report also detailed the destruction of the enemy Salamis ships, which would no doubt look good on both of the pilots for their success at taking them down.

Amir and Emmerich each smiled to themselves as they grew to appreciate their squad leader, even if this was a bit underhanded. They had helped him get those kills at least, or else they may feel a bit guiltier about the hand out.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

When the Musai was fully docked and ready to disembark the duo went to their bridge to ask permission to leave, which their Captain allowed Schmitzer to decide upon.

The platinum haired man smiled at the two younger soldiers as he nodded to their request to go on temporary shore leave, "I will be meeting with Captain M'Quve and lady Kycilia. Feel free to do as you please, but keep in contact with the base for when you are needed. If there is anything you need from me, do contact me. I will be preparing for our next deployment after my meeting."

Given that they would not be sent out that very same day, the pilots were free to mill about in the meantime near the base. While not exactly close friends, the two were now members of the same squad and decided in the end to stick together in their free time if only to stick together and be ready for deployment when the time came.

Their first stop was a bar by the base where officers would frequent regularly, even notable ones such as Dozle Zabi (though that was more of a testament of the man's character than the bar itself). The waitresses were familiar to Emmerich, who had made a habit of coming here to eat and drink when the opportunity lent itself, so one he knew by the name of Sherry had set aside earlier a seat for him at the best spot in the bar to celebrate his return.

The bar was crowded and finding space would have been difficult without this saved seat, so Emmerich thanked her as he took it and Amir took the one next to him. There was a television broadcasting news related to the war, and while Amir and Emmerich waited for their drinks they decided to tune in and get caught up on what had happened so far.

News of various victories were being plastered on the screen as a form of propaganda, though it was hardly lying: they were crushing the Federation in their sudden assault. Even the Earth's own broadcasts were reporting on their crushing losses.

"—and I will be filling in for JNN's Kinue Crossroad. Reports of numerous Zeon blitzkrieg attacks have taken the world by storm as the nation based on Side 3 declared war in what some are describing as three seconds before attacking Federation forces—"

The news was soon replaced though with an attractive newscaster standing beside what seemed to be a leaderboard of Zeon's top pilots, those who had achieved notoriety in these first few hours of combat with displays of valor.

The list served as a great form of amusement to the two given that the very last name on it was "Amir Hiyento" as the tenth most notable pilot so far. Presumably number eleven would be Emmerich, but nonetheless the two shared a quiet celebration since Amir did not seem open to much more praise than that, and Emmerich dared not cause a scene in a crowded bar of people in high spirits: they might embarrass Hiyento, and Emmerich was quite sure he would die if that happened.

As it stood, the leaderboard in the first few hours of the conflict went as follows:

1) Ramba Ral

2) Dozle Zabi

3) Shin Matsunaga

4) Norris Packard

5) Char Aznable

6) Garrett Schmitzer

7) Gaia

8) Johnny Ridden

9) Lou Roher

10) Amir Hiyento

Of course, Amir noted, that Dozle and Shin would be up there: Dozle was not supposed to be engaging in direct conflict, but he likely had taken to battle in his custom Zaku-II and beat the Federation forces to death with his near unmatched prowess in close combat which was only bolstered by having an extremely competent guard.

Amir had been new to the Zeon military academy when Dozle was an upperclassman, but he had respected the man for not being a stuck up snob despite his background as well as for his impressive military might and mind. It was this acquaintanceship that had Dozle recommend Amir to the testing program, which in turn brought him to directly serve Dozle as a pilot in the end.

Dozle was a good man, and despite his own pride he was proud for Dozle that he had accomplished so much. When he had looked at Dozle's pictures earlier he had been reminded of the times he briefly saw the Zabis while attending the academy, and he was proud to serve such a capable family. While Gihren rubbed him the wrong way, seeing Dozle teach and involve his younger brother gave him confidence that these were worthy leaders of Zeon.

The other names on the list did not really ring a bell outside of Schmitzer, who had done superbly, and Char Aznable, who Emmerich had heard rumors about. The man was mysterious in that he always wore a mask, but he was apparently at the top of his class at the military academy along with his friend Garma Zabi, which they would have just recently graduated at their young age.

When their drinks were served, both Amir and Emmerich found themselves smiling: they had survived, Zeon was winning, and at this rate the war would be over as quickly as Dozle had suggested it may be.

Content, they brought their glasses together and gave quiet cheers.

If only the war would play out as simply as they imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the reviews below! If you catch the other Gundam references, kudos to you! For any wondering, Schmitzer is from Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front, the game.
> 
> Please leave your thoughts in the review section below, and please follow/favorite the story if you enjoyed!


	3. Operation British

Some time went by before the team was resupplied and ready to head to the frontlines again. Not only did Lieutenant Schmitzer's mobile suit need fixing alongside countless others, the Musai had sustained damage and M'Quve had been called away to help Princess Kycilia with some matter.

When word got to Emmerich and Amir that they would be headed out again, they decided that it would be best to get some actual food at their base's mess hall than eat whatever would be served onboard the Musai.

When they arrived, the two were instantly bombarded by the noise of a rowdy crowd, though this was not a disgruntled form of rowdy but rather a cheerful kind. Spirits were high as they had been in the bar, and no-one could blame the soldiers who had returned for one reason or another for swapping battle stories and doing so loudly.

While Emmerich and Amir were getting their food, three men cut them off in line. Two of the men were short, though one of them towered over the other two. They were all laughing together about something one had said, and they seemed to completely ignore the other two pilots as they cut the line.

Not caring for this, Amir pushed past them and resumed his original position in line. Sensing that this might end badly, Emmerich moved around the trio to stand beside Amir in solidarity, though internally cursing his comrade's miniscule tolerance for bullshit.

The one at the front of the trio, a bearded ugly man who was somewhat overweight, jabbed a finger at Amir's chest, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Gaia, and mah here unit is among the best Zeon's got. According to the news, I'm one of the finest pilots Zeon has fighting for it. Buzz off, nobody."

The other short member of the trio, a man with a scar over his right eye, piped up, "Yeah, Gaia got six kills already! The average people have got is only like one or two! Know your place!"

Amir shrugged and gave a small smirk, not impressed as he remembered seeing the information about Gaia the other day, "Did he carve a cruiser to pieces or did he pick apart the harmless flies they call Saberfish? I may have swatted two less flies, but at least I've taken down something meaningful."

Emmerich was surprised his ally was being so verbose, but he didn't voice this confusion as the three other pilots moved to go around Amir and grab the nearby trays of food which had been prepared while they were bickering.

"Aww forget you. Come on boys, we got eating to do."

With Gaia's gang gone, Emmerich and Amir each went to get their own food and wordlessly let the situation dissipate. There was no reason to follow after the instigating men, even if Amir wanted to punch Gaia's face in for his smug attitude.

Given the crowded nature of the room the two struggled at first to find seats, but luck was in their fortune as someone who had seen the line incident rose a hand to get their attention.

"Need a table?"

The man offering them room, at what was a half-filled table, was wearing a uniform similar to their own, though a different rank of lieutenant. His hair was white as snow, and his face was quite restrained and no notable emotion seemed to seep through.

Emmerich had a feeling Amir would get along just fine with the man.

The duo joined the table, sitting across from the man as they murmured thanks for his invitation. He seemed to not truly care about such a trivial favor and instead opted to introduce himself while looking between the two men.

"I am Lieutenant Anavel Gato. I am a Royal Guard underneath Dozle Zabi," he paused as he finished observing the two, "I believe I have seen you two in the war reports. Schmitzer's squad if I am not mistaken."

Emmerich could tell that this man was quite perceptive if he was able to piece together who they were despite their minimal coverage compared to other pilots. Still, despite not knowing much of the man's reputation Emmerich had certainly picked up on the man's rank, which signified that he was the best of the best in terms of Zeon's soldiers.

"Wow, you must be really good at piloting then! Got any tips?"

Gato gave a small smirk reminiscent of Amir's moments ago, "Don't stay still. Even one of those outdated Saberfish can prove lethal if you do."

The basic advice deflated Emmerich's mood, though this was mainly because he was guilty of this in their last conflict, "Here I was hoping for some kind of secret technique."

"If you know the basics well enough, you will have no need for anything else in this pitiful war. Zeon has the Federation by its throat after all," Gato let some pride creep into his voice, displaying sincere patriotism as he gripped his hands into fists.

What Gato said was true however. Every report that came in was about how thoroughly they were trouncing the Federation. The propaganda was barely even propaganda anymore but rather statements of fact. The Spacenoids were proving their mettle as superior to that of that of those born of Earth, who those of Zeon would say were "souls weighed down by gravity".

Emmerich glanced around at the joyous hall and the throng of Zeon soldiers comprising it, only to find that the crowd had shifted to form around a trio of pilots…who Amir had been glaring at silently the whole time.

"Yeah, everyone seems in good cheers…" Emmerich sighed as he looked back to his own food and began to dig into it. Those idiots could enjoy popularity for now, but he'd show them in the end. He lowered an arm to the table to pound it lightly, causing a utensil to fly off the table and casually be caught by Amir.

Seeming to sense that tension still remained from the incident in the line, Gato glanced first at Gaia's group and then back to Emmerich and Amir with a smile.

"Don't worry about them. They are having their moment of limelight, but achievement born of recklessness can only last so long."

While his tone was very even and, outside of his pride for Zeon, lacking in range, Gato appeared to be someone the two could respect. Furthermore, given that he was a guard of Dozle Zabi himself, it gave them further comfort that their well-liked superior was in good hands.

Emmerich lifted his drink up and returned the small smile Gato held, "I'd drink to that if I had any alcohol."

Once they were done eating their meal, they gave goodbyes to their new acquaintance, and wished one another fortune on the battlefield.

It was time for the next battle, one that would set the course of the entire war, to begin.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Schmitzer was waiting for his squad-mates when they got to the hangar, his grey hair shining with all of the lights flashing in the hangar as diagnostic and weapons checks were carried out.

"Are you ready?" the leader asked his wingmen, and he received united nod from each of them.

"Thank you, sir, for…" Amir's voice trailed off as he struggled to verbalize the favor done for them by the Lieutenant after the last mission.

Remembering that he had reassigned his Saberfish kills, Schmitzer shook his head and laughed, "You can pay me back on those later, okay? I thought it'd look better if our squad as a whole did better than just me having all the glory. After all, the Zabis already respect me for my time at the academy. You two still have to earn your place, which you'll be able to surely do in the mission Hepner has the details on."

He turned around and started to head to the Jotun when a thought came to mind and he turned on his heels, nearly colliding with the two pilots following after him.

"Oh, and you two should try and kill different amounts of enemies this time around so I can actually buy whoever did better drinks."

Emmerich and Amir shared a laugh at the man's humor as the Lieutenant turned back around to approach the Jotun, where Lieutenant Hepner was waiting for them all with a series of files on-hand. Once they reached her she handed them out their files, which were continuations of what they had been handed previously.

"Thank you, Hepner," Schmitzer warmly greeted as he took the pile and passed out the information to his men, who began to look over it all while he instead spoke from memory, having already taken a look at the information while he was waiting for the others to finish eating.

"So, we're off shore leave boys! We'll be joining in on lord Gihren's offensive at Side 2, known as Operation British. The goal is to drop an unpopulated colony cylinder on the Federation's main base, Jaburo. We have to get going now or we'll miss out on the action though! Gihren's moving ahead of schedule it seems."

An unpopulated colony cylinder was an oddity, for they were supposed to house millions of people. Even an evacuation would not be so clean as to leave zero people behind…meaning something else had happened. Rumors were spreading of some mobile suit teams having been told to "pacify" or otherwise handle colonies who would side with the Federation instead of their Zeon liberators, only for the tear gas they were told to use to instead turn out to be hidden neurotoxin.

Allegedly, Gihren and his top command were to blame, but at this point few people knew the details as it was not something talked about on the news. A conveniently forgotten atrocity.

The implications dragged down even Amir's spirits…but they were at war, and if dropping this now unoccupied colony on the enemy's base ended the war, then so be it. They could not change what had been done, they could only affect what would come to be.

Continuing to go over the file, Schmitzer brought their attention to the enemy formations. The Federation were projected to bring a strong detachment of cruisers to halt the operation, while their smaller Saberfish would have little impact on the colony itself.

"We'll be taking on the Salamis cruisers so that their heavy fire cannot alter the colony's course. You two will have to handle the actual cruisers while I divert fire away from our Musai. The Federation has reportedly begun to target them so that our Zaku teams are left stranded. Due to my enhanced communicators, coordinating this shouldn't be an issue."

Amir closed his notes and asked a single question of his superior, as the report was vague on the topic, "Sir, how many enemy cruisers shall we expect to encounter?"

"A projected five to seven in the zone we will be deployed to. Don't be careless, and take them out in a way that won't put you in danger. High mobility and close quarters should narrow your risk of being hit by their cannon batteries."

Only Salamis cruisers as their expected foes meant higher stakes…much was expected of them, but this was a team put together by Dozle himself, working together in a miraculous display of civilty with Kycilia. If they had assigned this many targets to be taken out, then Emmerich and Amir would do their best to not disappoint them.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

"Good luck men, and do Zeon proud!"

Their Musai was in a defensive position for the now falling colony. It would fall and fall until it struck the Earth, possibly wiping out the Federation's base in one fell swoop…or possibly being diverted from its projected target by having its mass reduced by gunfire, or even diverted from it ever so slightly. Such an event would lead to the death of untold millions should it strike a populated area.

As such, failure was not an option to those seeking to utilize the tragedy that was the Side 2 massacre. Purpose had to be brought to their sacrifice or…

Emmerich shook his head and stopped thinking about the larger ramifications of the war as his Zaku-II carried him away from the Musai, Amir leading him as they left their ship and Schmitzer behind: one half their force would go ahead and cut off the enemy approach, stalling them, while the other stalled any possible stragglers who dared to interfere with the operation. A myriad of similar battles were about to rage around the large space colony, but if Zeon could only protect it long enough they could see the end of the Federation that day.

Given the speed of their Zakus, it did not take long for sight of the enemy cruisers approaching from other battlefields to halt this sudden phenomenon that would become known as a colony drop.

"You get half, I'll get half?" Emmerich asked his partner over the radio. Five cruisers were in sight, and Emmerich was betting a sixth would join the battle at some point given how desperate the Federation was likely to be.

He did not receive agreement but rather an object refusal to enact that plan as Amir put his Zaku-I on full throttle, "Focus them down one at a time."

The cruisers opened fire on the approaching two Zakus before Emmerich could argue his point, with Amir's forward position forcing him to adopt his partner's plan.

"Fine, fine."

Amir was the primary focus on the Federation gunfire, though he managed to avoid it all with uncanny dodging skill resulting from the reflexes that made Amir a prime candidate for flying a Zaku in the first place. While Emmerich had gotten to his position due to mechanical expertise, Amir had no such background and was trained solely for the purpose of removing the enemies Zeon.

With his focus fully on dodging, Amir did not even try to fire back at the cruisers firing at him with their various cannons. A single good hit from one of them could destroy his Zaku-I, so he had to be cautious and attack only when he was not under threat of being actually hit.

The bridge of the first cruiser found an axe buried inside of it with all of the momentum of a charging Zaku, though Amir jerked his controls so that his Zaku would twist and swivel with the weapon as he embedded it in the enemy. This allowed him to avoid more of the laser blasts and bullets headed his way, as the Federation ships this time seemed to not be as hesitant to fire towards their own allies. The ship Amir had struck began to crumble as friendly fire tore into it in a deadly barrage.

With their attention focused on Amir, the next closest Federation ship was repaid for its friendly fire by three rockets raining down on it in rapid succession and tearing through its hull, destroying not only its weapon batteries but nearly severing the entire ship in two.

"Did you see that?!" Emmerich boasted as the Federation ship continued to fall apart from residual damage caused from his attacks. Unfortunately, he did not receive much affirmation from Amir, who had used the explosion of the second ship as cover to rush forward and approach their third target.

Emmerich cursed as he loaded his weapon, "Of course you did…freaking purple ninja…"

His complaints were cut off when laserfire struck his Zaku's primary arm and tore through its joint and through part of his weapon. The weapon itself exploded as its payload was torn into by the laserfire, and the resulting damage ruined what was left of the limb.

The offending ship, the third cruiser in their sights, was not as efficiently slain as the first. Amir hacked wildly away first at the cannon that shot his partner and then moved onwards to hack at its fuselage.

Disarmed and shaken, Emmerich fought through the pain of having been thrown around in his cockpit to join Amir in the middle of the firefight: he still had a Heat Hawk, and if he could he'd help out.

Amir turned around to see that Emmerich had sliced a cannon pointing directly at the purple Zaku-I in half, quite the close call given that a shot from behind could set off the Zaku's reactor. Rather than verbalizing any thanks he jumped towards Emmerich's suit and shoved it forcefully while also twisting his own Zaku.

The ship they were on fell victim similar to the first to friendly gunfire, as the final two cruisers had taken the opportunity to shoot down the Zakus as they stood still. A shot that would have hit Emmerich was avoided due to Amir's interference, but a blast striking just below where Amir's suit floated caused an detonation that took with it one and a half of Amir's Zaku's legs.

Not finished yet, the two jumped away from the now scuttled ship as it entered its death throes. While under the power of gravity the Zaku would require its legs, they were in space and so Amir was only put off by how this altered the weight of his suit.

Despite the seeming handicap, Amir was able to struggle with the controls until he could steer the Zaku correctly towards the fourth Salamis Cruiser. It had begun to track Emmerich's mobile suit and thus was vulnerable to the sudden appearance of Amir's Mobile suit, which grabbed hold of one of its laser cannons.

Emmerich found himself laughing as the ship's cannon fired not at him, but rather at the other enemy ship. Apparently the forcible twist Amir had put it through damaged it to the point it was firing continuously and it began to pelt the other ship with powerful blasts.

As this happened Emmerich finally reached his target destination: the giant enemy ship's bridge, at which he took a swipe underneath. The bridge was extended from the main body in a perpendicular fashion, and his Heat Hawk did a superb job at carving into the base between the two pieces.

While each pilot had previously been growing proud of their performances, the moment their radios crackled their mood dipped into anxiety.

"Augh, damnit! Where did all of these reinforcements come from?"

It was Schmitzer, and a quick look from Amir revealed that in the distance where they had left the Lieutenant there was a swarm of Saberfish assaulting him and the Musai, along with two Magellan class battlecruisers, vehicles far more capable than the Salamis class.

There should have been Saberfish assisting these cruisers, but they had instead joined an infiltration force and were trying to break through!

As if he could sense how both Emmerich and Amir were ready to leave their targets to come back and assist him, he called out a stern warning to them.

"Stay on target soldiers! This war can end tomorrow if we succeed this mission!"

Schmitzer's words in mind, Amir propelled himself from the fourth cruiser and towards the heavily damaged fifth. It had begun to try and turn and run, but damage caused by the forceful friendly fire rendered its propulsion to a limp-like state.

Firing his weapon into the retreating craft's engines, Amir watched coolly as the Federation vessel was engulfed in its own flames. By this time Emmerich had finished dissecting the fourth cruiser, leaving its command bridge adrift and sending its systems into chaos.

Their Zakus looked one another in the eye and without a word they came to a decision: hauling back to their own Musai and Schmitzer, even if it meant engaging overwhelming enemy forces.

When the final cruiser was finished the transmission line to Schmitzer had cut off: given that Schmitzer's Zaku was a Command model, it had powerful communications capabilities, so either the Zaku was destroyed or it was so heavily damaged it could no longer utilize those systems.

Rushing towards the second battlefield, both Amir and Emmerich found themselves shocked by the graveyard of wreckage around them. The remains of at least twenty Saberfish and one of the Magellan cruisers littered the area, while possibly more Saberfish were just reduced to nothing.

Their team leader had been busy while they were away: it probably started with a couple Saberfish before he was overwhelmed.

Speaking of which, the Lieutenant's Zaku was in little better shape than the carnage surrounding it. One arm remained, its body was chipped away at by gunfire, and its legs were completely damaged. The Zaku's blue head had been partially torn, but its red mono-eye remained.

The barely held together Zaku slowly moved itself to turn and face what Amir and Emmerich noticed was the final two groups of Saberfish. His rifle shot at the closer formation of them, though the shots were erratic and barely came close to their marks. Despite this, the closest of the Saberfish, marked differently as if to denote some sort of special status, took the effort to dodge the gunfire as if to prove a point before swooping in and unleashing a missile payload on the Zaku's fuselage.

"Lieutenant!"

Amir tossed his rifle to Emmerich as they finally reached the battlezone, but he did not slow as he did this: he instead prepared his axe and moved to close in on Schmitzer's location.

Not knowing if he was alive or not was one worry, but Schmitzer was nearby the heavily damaged Musai, which was still slugging it out with the second Magellan. M'Quve had been maneuvering his ship well enough to outdo his opponents, but despite his superior skills he could only manage so much when faced with two enemy ships of superior power. By getting in close Amir hoped to protect both by dissuading the Saberfish and also perhaps even getting an opportunity to force the broken Zaku into the Musai's hanger bay where the possibly alive Schmitzer could receive medical attention.

Emmerich placed his Heat Hawk back on its charge rack and grabbed the weapon provided for him. Enraged by the sight of his defeated leader, he began to track to moving Saberfish squadrons with it. Without hesitation, and by leading where he thought they would go, the calculating Emmerich gunned down five of the remaining eight Saberfish before they could even consider him a threat.

Two of the others tried to avoid the explosions that had been their wingmates as well as the hail of gunfire following them, but waiting for them was an axe to the cockpit, each ship deftly cut down by Amir's quite-mobile Zaku.

This left one Saberfish left, the seeming ace, and it swept around to take another attack run at the Zakus. Amir kept his Zaku in the path of the Saberfish as it shot its machine guns at him, not willing to let it harm the Schmitzer's vulnerable Zaku.

Also trying to fire upon the immobile Zakus was the Magellan cruiser, which thought itself the victor of its conflict already given the Musai's damaged frame. Unfortunately for it, the Musai made a sweeping movement to catch the gunfire with its own hull, protecting both mobile suits while also unleashing a full salvo at the Magellan. Unlike the unfocused Magellan shots, the Musai had focused all its firepower on one point and broke through the Magellan's center, cutting it like a knife through warm butter.

The movement of the Musai exposed its hangar to Amir, who moved to grab Schmitzer and force him onboard. This required him to turn his back to the approaching ace Saberfish, who let loose a salvo of missiles…

…which promptly detonated as Emmerich shot a derelict Saberfish husk, causing it to explode and take the missiles with it as they passed into its flame.

Ceding defeat, the Saberfish turned tail and ran, unable to continue this battle any further given the losses incurred.

With Schmitzer's irresponsive suit on board the Musai, Amir and Emmerich each took a look to see Side 2 as its descent continued.

The colony was falling…

"—the damn Federation has altered—"

Emmerich lowered his head as he shut his radio off. He was close enough to other Zeon forces to pick up their broadcasts, and despite everything they had thrown into this, Operation: British had failed.

The colony would drop not on the Federation's base, but some other hapless territory on Earth.

The sight of an entire colony that once housed millions falling down through Earth's atmosphere was a beautiful sight to behold…and a horrible one that both Amir and Emmerich forced themselves to watch.

They had done their best, but even they could not stem the tide of the entire battle. And this was the price of Zeon's collective failure. For the first time since the war began, Zeon felt its invincible tide halt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! Kudos and follows are also very much welcome, and thank you again for your interest.


	4. Fallout and Friendly Faces

[ ](http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/bugguy417/media/Earth%20Sphere%20diagram_zpsgwsk3u3g.png.html)

  
**Chapter 4: Fallout and Friendly Faces**  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
After returning to their room exhausted from the previous battle, the pilots woke to find that their Musai had returned to Zeon and was beginning to dock. They felt the Musai shifting to approach the bay, and not long after a soft knock on the door let them know that Lieutenant Hepner has once again been sent to fetch them.  
  
This time however the quiet woman did not even wait for one to answer the door before she murmured, "Captain M'Quve has requested you both come to the bridge."  
  
Her voice was even softer than Amir and Emmerich remembered, and the two could guess why. Unlike the two men who had years of experience and training to help them repress their feelings of pain, Hepner had just graduated from the academy and was thrust into war and loss.  
  
When they had returned to the Musai they had learned that in the course of the battle many of the staff aboard the craft had been wounded or even killed by powerful hits taken from the Magellans. Hepner had been aboard when she saw the staff near her torn apart from a powerful hit, only barely surviving the experience by being on the other side of an airlock when it shut to prevent a complete air leak.  
  
Not only that, but when the pilots had returned from the battle they had done so with damage of their own. Lieutenant Schmitzer had been in critical condition because of shrapnel wounds, wounds that were made worse when he was forcibly moved into the Musai, though he would have died from their original state had he not been treated so quickly. As it was, he was unconscious and being treated, left nearly dead as those who respected him like Hepner, Emmerich, and Amir all worried in their own way about if he would get better at all.  
  
Amir was the faster one of the two soldiers, and so he reached the door first, opening it to find that Hepner was still standing there, though her head was hanging down and her eyes were glued to the floor.  
  
Having been asleep and thus out of the loop, Amir decided to ask the obvious question.  
  
"How is he?"  
  
Hepner turned her head a little, looking in the direction of where Schmitzer was receiving medical treatment.  
  
"I don't know how the Lieutenant is doing. They haven't let me in to see him yet."  
  
While not a personable kind of guy, Amir did recognize the pain displayed on her face and he placed a hand on her shoulder in understanding right before moving past her and leaving.  
  
"He'll be okay."  
  
Emmerich was right behind him and was in time to catch the look of surprise of the fresh recruit. Both he and Amir had said little since they returned outside of learning about how the operation went and shouting to get medical attention for their squad leader.  
  
Yes, even the stoic Amir was shouting, a sign that he had come to like and respect their commander.  
  
The way Operation British ended was a complete failure. The fallen colony did not collide with Jaburo, the Federation's main base, as intended, but rather it connected with Australia on the opposite side of the world given the huge deviation in its flight path the Federation managed to achieve. Millions were likely dead, though the exact details were not known by Amir or Emmerich, who were each infuriated by the mission's failure.  
  
Amir in particular blamed Gihren for the mission not going as planned: he could have waited and dropped the colony when the Federation was not fighting back, and now millions of innocents had been sacrificed for nothing. Soldiers had been wasted defending when they should have been pressing the offensive.  
  
As the pilots reached and entered the bridge they saw that M'Quve was already turned towards them, having been waiting for their arrival as Hepner indicated previously. He nodded to the men before turning to the dock that the helmsmen were trying to land the Jotun in.  
  
"Gentlemen," he verbally greeted the Lieutenants, his voice calm despite the heavy damage visible in the bridge. He must have been through quite a lot, much like they had, but his personality was such that he was not letting it effect him.  
  
The soldiers saluted him and kept silent, waiting for an order to be given before speaking. He had asked for them for a reason…though it would not be one either expected.  
  
The blue haired man in formal clothing seemingly from the 17th century AD nodded to the men and gave the smallest of smiles, "You are free to do as you please while we are docked. Admiral Dozle was quite pleased with your performance, though we are grounded until our repairs are complete and we know what the Lieutenant's condition will be. Express orders of Lady Kycilia herself."  
  
Emmerich found himself stunned by the gracious leave just granted, but something else took precedent in his mind, "Sir, if I may ask, how is the Lieutenant?"  
  
M'Quve's expression became neutral as he mewled over the question a moment, "Lieutenant Schmitzer will be brought to the hospital at the base we dock at. His condition has stabilized for now, but I understand they still have work to do in securing his life."  
  
M'Quve glanced to the damage in the Musai's bridge and sighed. Something was weighing heavily on his mind as he spoke to his pilots.  
  
"If I had to assume, we will be sidelined for a sizeable portion of this remaining month, if the war even lasts that long. We have not the resources to readily fix such heavy damage in any short time, nor do we have spare ships to use. Lord Gihren and Admiral Dozle have moved all available resources and forces towards the next offensive front, the Federation base Loum where the remainders of their fleet clings on."  
  
This said, M'Quve turned back to the soldiers and flicked a hand indifferently.  
  
"You are dismissed. Do contact me if you have anything of importance to report. Otherwise, recover as Lady Kycilia is allowing you to. Her graciousness is not to be taken lightly."  
  


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
It took some time for Emmerich and Amir to fill out their reports about the mission, but each had decided to do so before leaving the base because they wanted to have one less thing keeping them from enjoying their shore leave.  
  
Once finished, they spared no time in rushing to the military hospital, even opting to leave their personal belongings they would need to move to the barracks instead on the Musai so that they could see for themselves just how the man was faring.  
  
As to be expected, the hospital was full of worried families waiting to go in and see their wounded husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. In the crowded waiting room the duo spotted a familiar head of red hair. Hepner was waiting patiently to be allowed in, no doubt to see the Lieutenant.  
  
Despite her seeming shell shock, Hepner was attentive enough to see the two men approach and she greeted them with a small nod. Without them even asking, she knew what they had on their minds given what Amir had said earlier.  
  
"They've started working on the Lieutenant. They say he should be fine, but they're worried about his spine," she paused and grimaced, "He might not be able to walk, let alone pilot a mobile suit."  
  
The normally talkative Emmerich was at a loss for words. This was war, after all, and he was just as fresh to frontline combat as Hepner: he just had more military experience overall to help deal with the overall shock.  
  
With no-one speaking, Hepner continued on.  
  
"I…I've never seen anything like this before. All those people wounded and dead…"  
  
Emmerich nodded to Amir before taking one of the few open seats in the hospital. Amir followed suit, and they joined Hepner in waiting.  
  


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
When the doctors finally finished operating on Schmitzer the three people waiting to see him were not allowed in, for he had other company who took precedence: Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi and M'Quve were let in before them, though the visit was short and Kycilia soon left the room and approached the three seated soldiers waiting.  
  
She ignored Hepner as Kycilia, not wearing the purple facemask and silver helmet she was known for, narrowed her maroon eyes on Emmerich and Amir.  
  
"You two. You are Lieutenant Schmitzer's men, are you not?"  
  
Emmerich and Amir each stood up and saluted her instinctively while letting out a quick "Yes My Lady", surprised by her sudden approach but also not wanting to make fools of themselves. The woman had a cold aura to her, the exact opposite of Dozle's in fact, and while the hospital was not warm beforehand each pilot had to suppress a shiver as their Princess looked them over with her narrowed eyes.  
  
The optical interrogation ended after only a moment, however, though it did not feel like it ended too soon to those on the receiving end. Kycilia's gaunt face softened as she spoke up again.  
  
"I am grateful for your efforts in this recent conflict. I only wish you could have been deployed earlier, so my brother's mission could have at least been a success in spite of what happened to your lieutenant. His wounds were in vain."  
  
Amir shared her sentiment, but her cool demeanor still was off-putting for the man. It was the way he was himself, but that did little to make him trust her.  
  
Emmerich, for his part, was too scared to talk and say something stupid, and so he kept quiet outside of a weak "Thank you, My Lady".  
  
Seemingly fine with the complete subservience demonstrated, Kycilia continued, "He saved the Musai, and my right hand man. And you two in turn saved them all by damaging the remaining enemy units after first destroying five Salamis cruisers on your own. Your record is impressive, and you both will be rewarded for your work, as will the Lieutenant."  
  
This said, Kycilia turned to leave, her dark cape flowing behind her.  
  
"I have a war to win. Keep up the good work soldiers," without even turning, she addressed her subordinate who had been meekly standing behind her the entire time, "M'Quve, write their promotion papers up with my stamp of approval when you have the time."  
  
It was quiet, but Emmerich could swear he heard her also say under her breath, "Unlike some, they succeeded."  
  
She departed swiftly, with M'Quve following after her though not before giving a nod to the pilots. Emmerich found himself almost pitying the ruthless man for having to serve under someone so…not-Dozle.  
  
After M'Quve and Kycilia departed, as if his ears were ringing Dozle arrived at the same location. While Emmerich was unsure about Kycilia being there to visit Schmitzer, he could understand why Dozle was here: he was visiting many troops, and had been noticeable earlier amongst the crowded facility due to his towering height.  
  
After a brief look inside the room where Schmitzer lay resting, Dozle appeared ready to leave, though his face was one of both grief and anger. It then came to Emmerich's mind that Schmitzer had said something about already being in the good graces of the Zabis, and Schmitzer's file had said that he had been an instructor at the military academy.  
  
While he had not met the man there himself, Emmerich could understand why perhaps even the coldhearted Kycilia had come by: he had been a mentor to their family as they went through the school. Given the man's serious but kind personality, Emmerich had little doubt that the man treated them not just as royalty, but as his pupils, and such an earnest personality was likely welcomed by even Kycilia.  
  
While Dozle stood there Hepner took the opportunity to slip past the giant and go inside the room, leaving Amir and Emmerich with their Vice-Admiral, who began to speak aloud as if to vent about what he saw inside Schmitzer's room, "A good man and teacher. I will see to it that the Federation pays for this personally."  
  
His fists clenched in anger before he let the go and he looked over to the pilots he knew.  
  
"I know how you feel, sir. We can only hope now that he recovers…" Emmerich offered in response. Dozle seemed to appreciate it given how he then nodded and seemed to cool down, at least in terms of his tone.  
  
"I would go out there and beat them with my own Zaku if I were not confined to my desk handling the army of logistical issues that accompany a war, with permissions and resources getting in the way. If only my plate could be less full."  
  
His fists uncurled and he shook his head a moment before turning and facing the pilots again, "I really must go, but please stop by my office and update me about his condition sometime, okay?"  
  
Amir nodded and saluted the man, "As you wish, sir. As soon as we know more we will let you know."  
  
Dozle smiled for the first time in hours, "Thank you. I had hoped to build a bridge between my sister and I with this unit, but that may not come to be now that her favorite academy instructor is hospitalized. Still, it is not your fault, so do not blame yourselves. There is nothing you could have done, and I am proud of your own accomplishments."  
  


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
Once Dozle left, Amir and Emmerich went to go see Schmitzer, but were saddened to see that he was not yet awake. They left Hepner there at the hospital, the young woman insisting on staying to look after her commanding officer, when they decided it was about time to start easing into their "leave". Since their ship could not take flight, they would be grounded for awhile and need to adjust to life back on Side 3 again.  
  
When they returned to their Musai they were met with the sight of someone unfamiliar looking around the edge of the vehicle as if he needed someone to talk to. Approaching, they could see that the man had military length, dark blue hair and held a serious gaze as he continued to look for someone to help him with whatever was wrong. However, given that Hepner was visiting the Lieutenant and everyone else was working inside the Musai to fix its systems he has no-one to approach.  
  
Emmerich waved casually to the man to catch his attention, "Hey there man, what do you need?"  
  
The man smiled politely and saluted the Lieutenants, his uniform revealing him to be an officer just like them, "Do you have any idea where I may find Lieutenant Schmitzer?"  
  
That deflated Emmerich's mood quickly, having just nearly recovered from the hospital visit where he not only had to see his superior in a damaged state, but hear the cries and yells of pain from the wounded and dying present there, "He's…in the hospital. Severe spinal injury, possibly paralyzed. We're his wingmates, Lieutenants Emmerich and Hiyento."  
  
The blue haired man appeared shocked by the news, but he recovered from it quickly, "Oh, I am sorry to hear about your superior officer. I heard one of his pilots had been wounded and would be unable to pilot a mobile suit, but I didn't know it was him."  
  
He offered a hand to them and let out a sigh, "I am Lieutenant Roher. I had intended to put in papers to transfer to join this unit, but I may hold off now that the Lieutenant is out of commission. I wish him a speedy recovery, and you two the best of luck."  
  
Emmerich took the man's hand and shook it, "Well, I wish you luck in any case, Lieutenant Roher."  
  
Amir remembered Roher as one of the many other pilots receiving acclaim on the ZeoNet channel. While it was unfortunate this may preclude their working together, Amir at least was glad that Roher was not anything like that asshole Gaia.  
  
They parted on good terms with the pilot before going and getting their things at the Musai. Amir was done packing sooner and left without Emmerich, not having a real need to stay glued to the other man's side. Once Emmerich had finished too he decided to put his things away in the normal barracks before heading out into Side 3 and experiencing some everyday life again to get his mind off the battles he had narrowly survived these past days.  
  
On his way through the base he bumped into what seemed to be a fresh recruit, who in turn stumbled backward before falling down. The man quickly jumped to his feet and saluted Emmerich, the young soldier's face red in embarrassment as his blonde hair shone underneath one of the hallway's lights.  
  
"Sorry! Ensign Bernard Wiseman at your service!"  
  
"Don't worry about it, I was a bit distracted, so it's as much my fault as yours," Emmerich laughed, not really minding the incident at all, "Ensign, eh? You sign up a bit late for this war?" he joked.  
  
Bernie rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "I'm a new trainee, though my training won't be over until after the war I bet."  
  
"Well, then you won't have to go home in a box at least, am I right?" Emmerich continued to joke, though it only made the poor Ensign nervous.  
  
"I hope so at least. Anyways, sorry for getting in your way, but I got to get going now so I can get some practice in on the simulators!" Bernie used a finger to point towards the area of the base where mobile suit practice was done. He was likely an aspiring pilot, and Emmerich hoped for the young man's sake he never would have to go off to war.  
  
Another reason to finish it as soon as possible…though Emmerich was unsure if he would get to contribute to that, one way or the other. While Operation British had been a failure, the Federation was still reeling from the Zeon onslaught.  
  
Could they just surrender already?  
  


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
After Amir departed from Emmerich and put his things away, he decided to use the first part of his free time to visit the base's gym. He was agile and dexterous, but he could always use a good workout to improve himself further.  
  
The sole other person at the gym when he visited was the white haired soldier he had previously met in the Mess Hall, Anavel Gato. Amir got the feeling that the vacant gym was a result of how thoroughly Zeon had been crushing the Federation, but Anavel apparently was not the type to assume anything. If there was still a war to fight, he would prepare himself for it.  
  
Noticing that he had company, Gato turned from the machine he was working on.  
  
"Oh, it's you," he stops his current exercise and gives a military salute which Amir returns.  
  
This formality done, he began to resume his workout all the while continuing to speak to Amir, "How is Lieutenant Schmitzer doing? The news reports say it took an army of Saberfish to take him down. I wouldn't mind facing a man with that kind of skill myself."  
  
Amir smirked, glad that his superior officer was being hailed as a hero of sorts by the media already, "I must say I was impressed by how well he performed. I only wish he hadn't been so outnumbered, but such is our fate in this war."  
  
"You are right. We must stay vigilant and not allow any weakness if we are to finish this war decisively," Gato gave the other man a small smile, "If you wish. I will be stationed here in the next few days, and your company may prove welcome. Few others are using this time wisely. Fools think the battle is already won."  
  
"I could use a spotter anyways," Amir smirked, though he was glad at least that someone else was taking this whole war thing seriously.  
  


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
People would not stop bumping into Emmerich it seemed, as even when he left to go to the nearest park he felt something collide with one of his legs. Like with Bernie he did not get knocked over himself, but the other person did given Emmerich's toughness.  
  
Looking down, Emmerich saw that a young girl in a pink shirt and aqua overalls had been the one to collide with him this time. The girl was rubbing the part of her face where she had crashed into him but was not crying fortunately, though before Emmerich could ask how she was doing a man's voice cut him off.  
  
"I'm so sorry, please excuse her. Marie's so young she doesn't look where she's going."  
  
"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry as well for not looking down," Emmerich helped the man help the young girl up, at which point she moved to hide behind her father's leg.  
  
With a tanner complexion than Marie's that reminded Emmerich almost of Amir's, the man introduced himself upon noticing Emmerich's military uniform, "I am Lieutenant Zinnerman, serving under Captain Delaz. My unit was wiped out in a nuclear explosion at Side 2, so I'm here on leave until we can put together another full team."  
  
"I'm Lieutenant Emmerich, serving under Lieutenant Schmitzer and Captain M'Quve. It's a pleasure to meet you," Emmerich gave the man a beaming smile. Zinnerman appeared to be quite the doting father if he was already spending time with his young daughter and not just resting.  
  
Finding that he liked this man, Emmerich extended a hand to him to shake which Zinnerman took, "You know, Lieutenant, my ship the Jotun was damaged and we lost some crew members. If you want, we could probably all go out sooner if you were to be reassigned to our unity."  
  
Zinnerman considered it for a moment before looking down at his daughter and then back up to Emmerich, his face turning into a sad smile, "Thank you, but I am in no hurry to leave. You only get to see your kids grow up once after all."  
  
"I understand—" Emmerich started, but was cut off by the man's young daughter running from behind the man's leg out into the park, where she had caught sight of a puppy.  
  
Zinnerman turned to run after her, his stocky frame not truly built for running, "Marie!—it was nice meeting you!" he called back to Emmerich as he ran off, having trouble keeping up with his energetic daughter.  
  


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
After some time spent idly considering the war and his part in it at the park, Emmerich decided to go back to the barracks and see if he could find Amir. Fortunately for him he did not have to wander far to encounter the man, as Amir had gone for a run to keep up his speed and endurance and was approaching the park anyways. Once they reconnected, the two filled one another in on what they had been up to and decided to head to the bar nearby their base to fully catch up.  
  
Passing by the base itself, the two are interrupted in their chat by the sight of a young brown haired woman who did not appear to know where she was going. She had features that reminded Emmerich of what he had seen growing up in the Japanese immigrant part of Side 3, while Amir noticed what he would consider American features in her.  
  
In any case, she was not a native, they could each sense that much, which meant she was from the Federation…but appeared to merely be a civilian. As such they decided it best to ignore her as she milled around by the exit of the base. No-one seemed to be paying her much mind and the soldiers coming in and out of the base she approached brushed her off like Amir and Emmerich intended to.  
  
That was, at least, until she jogged over in front of their path and held her arms out to stop them. She had recognized something about them and as such wanted to flag them down, especially since no-one else would speak with her.  
  
"Excuse me, may I ask you some questions?"  
  
Amir nudged Emmerich, who had stopped moving in response to the Federation woman's approach, "Just keep walking."  
  
Emmerich, instead of joining Amir in continuing to walk on, instead grabbed the man by the sleeve to stop him. Whoever this was, they had caught his interest, and his curiosity about why a Federation citizen was visiting Side 3 of all places mere days into the war was nagging at Emmerich's mind. How did she even manage to get here? Was she here by chance when the war happened, or did she sneak in?  
  
The woman smiled when she realized she was finally being given the time of day, "Thank you. I am a Federation reporter and I want to learn more about the other side of the war. I promise I won't take too much of your time."  
  
Finally giving in to the nagging part of his brain, Emmerich sighed and gestured to the woman.  
  
"Alright, I'll bite. What's an Earth Federation reporter doing here, miss…"  
  
She extended a hand to him, and Emmerich inwardly groaned as he had to shake yet another hand that day. Still, he was not one to be impolite, so he took her hand and was surprised by the strong grip.  
  
"Crossroad. Kinue Crossroad of the Japanese News Network. And thank you," the reporter introduced herself before returning to the topic, "I'm here to speak with Zeon citizens to understand Zeon's perspective about the war. I thought it would be better to talk to everyday people and soldiers rather than politicians and their rhetoric."  
  
Amir scoffed and shot her a dark glance as he crossed his arms defensively, "So you can misrepresent us? No thanks."  
  
Miss Crossroad shook her head no, not very surprised by his hostility but also put off by it, "Not at all. I'm here to try and understand a side of this conflict that is not being represented in the media back on Earth."  
  
Seeing that Amir might scare her off when she seemed to actually be open-minded, Emmerich shot the other man a serious look, "You were saying, Miss Crossroad?"  
  
Kinue appreciated the support and so resumed her reason for talking to them, "Thank you. So, if I may ask, what has the conflict been like in your eyes? What are your goals in fighting? I recognize you two as two of the pilots featured on ZeoNet quite prominently."  
  
So they were on the news still? Emmerich would have let out a fist pump or other form of excitement if he was not trying his best to be straight faced with this Federation aligned reporter.  
  
His personal feelings of triumph put aside, Emmerich paused a moment to think. What has the conflict been like? Fortunately he had been just thinking about this topic during his walk in the park to some degree, and so he spoke smoothly as he responded to the reporter.  
  
"I can only speak for myself, but at the same time I know I am fighting for the same reason as many others in Zeon: we are fighting for our families. We're fighting for our people, those in space, to have freedom. Underneath the Federation we are treated as second-class citizens, but Zeon strives to save us from such subjugation. We'll fight to free ourselves, even if it means we have to lash out against the Federation forces in space. We won't abide by their tyrannical rule."  
  
His words were not met with the scoffs and amusement he expected from the woman, who instead of dismissing his claims seemed to actually be interested in them as she scribbled notes down on a pad she had brought with her.  
  
One question down, Kinue continued on as she finished her notes from the last one, "With news of the recent Colony drop and all the people it killed in Australia, how much do you believe in your commander Gihren Zabi, who ordered it after having been rumored to have tricked innocent pilots into killing its inhabitants with neurotoxin?"  
  
Amir shot Emmerich a look saying "don't screw this up", causing Emmerich to roll his eyes. Of course he was going to ask that this seemingly nice woman not tell anyone that he specifically said what he was about to say. What did Amir think he was, naïve?  
  
"Don't say I said this, but those tragedies are not what we are fighting for. We entered into this conflict knowing we would be disadvantaged numerically, but we also did not know that millions of civilians would die due to the decisions of some of our leaders. I wish there was a way for such acts of war could be divorced from our cause, but I am afraid now many will blame us all for the actions of a few."  
  
While Amir was irritated that Emmerich's statement could be tied to them if the reporter decided to be evil, he had to say he was supportive of the mans statement itself…but he still was pissed that if anyone found this out it could be traced to them, and they could become two on the chopping block of Gihren's political enemies.  
  
Also seemingly in agreement of Emmerich was the reporter herself, who was smiling genuinely as she finished her second page of notes, "Is there anything else you would like to say?"  
  
Emmerich shrugged, not really ready for a more open ended question, "Perhaps only that I hope that this war ends soon, and that the Federation will give up its futile struggle. The longer they try to keep Spacenoids under their grip, the more families will lose their loved ones. Neither side wants that, at least I hope neither does."  
  
Once she was finished Kinue put her notes away and instead took a wallet out of her pocket. As she opened it Emmerich caught sight of a younger version of herself standing next to what appeared to be a young boy, likely a brother, and a man who must be their father.  
  
Emmerich realized he ought to keep something like that with him too…it would be a nice keepsake. It also made him realize that, much as she had proven thus far, that just because they belonged to completely opposed nations did not mean that she was a monster, just as she had seemingly hoped to prove to her own people by interviewing normal citizens from Zeon.  
  
If the people in charge of their nations could be more like this, Emmerich could have hope for the future…but he was just a lowly soldier, and she was just a reporter who probably would get fired if she said anything pro-Zeon.  
  
Having finished taking something out of her wallet, miss Crossroad handed Emmerich a business-card, "Thank you for your time. I am going to be trying to complete my story, but here is my contact information if you want to get in touch."  
  
Emmerich smiled as he took the card and pocketed it, "Well, thank you for coming here and being willing to have an open mind. I hope you won't quote me though…some people might not like that."  
  
"Oh, don't worry, I won't if you don't want me to. We don't want you joining the Deikun supporters Gihren executed, now do we?"  
  
Emmerich laughed as he realized that he and Amir were not alone in hating Gihren.  
  
"You're alright, Miss Crossroad. Take care of yourself, you hear?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In-game, I was going to do the reporter bit and thought it'd be fun to have it be a cameo appearance. Little did I know that it'd actually end up going anywhere...yay vague foreshadowing!
> 
> Thanks everyone for reading, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!


End file.
